The polls have closed in Greece and exit polls appear to be showing that the 'No' vote will carry the day. All six major Greek TV stations are predicting a victory for the No campaign, says Sky News. the latest exit polls:
Yes 48.5% No 51.5%
outcome range
Yes 46.5-50.5% No 49.5-53.5%
But these are paper ballots and the actually vote counts will only come in slowly.
Nick Malkoutzis @NickMalkoutzis
"No" ahead in opinion polls but lead slim & margin of error wide. Wait for official results. Only certainty is Greek society divided
Consider this an open thread.
The EU has told Greece that if Greece votes 'No'*, they can no longer use the Euro, but modest loans to maintain essential funding will continue. (edited thanks to notrouble)
Government spokesman Nikos Filis, "I think this is guidance for the government...to move forward quickly to seek a deal and normalise the banking system.”
The Guardian Live
These opinion polls give the governing radical left Syriza party cause for “restrained optimism” that OXI (no) is going is going to triumphs if only marginally, says our correspondent Helena Smith in Athens.
But, at the risk of banging on, we need to wait for official news from tonight’s counts before we know for sure.
Alexis Tsipras is said to be a master of game theory, so maybe this was thew plan all along.
Sources in Syriza are saying that top government officials, including state minister and chief negotiator Nikos Pappas, the Greek prime minister’s closest political ally, have “packed their bags and are ready to return to Brussels” to relaunch negotiations, Helena Smith reports.
Helena has been hearing that ever more ATMs have run out of cash with banks unable to replenish them.
One source said:
“The situation with banks is critical and must be addressed ASAP.”
9:38 AM PT: Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, says:
“The talks with the French president from 6:30pm, and over dinner will be about a common assessment of the situation after the Greek referendum and the continuation of the close German-French cooperation on this subject.”
9:52 AM PT: Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis stress that a deal needs to be finalized in 24 hours, and blames the press for interfering.
Also I find it a bit humorous that the Greek word for 'no' is ókhi - which sounds like 'okay' to English speakers; and the Greek word for 'yes' is 'Nai' which sounds a lot like the German word for 'no' 'nein.' There is really nothing there, but it is a bit humorous. :)
10:08 AM PT: The mood in Greece is calm. ATM machines in the streets are no longer than three or four people deep. It sounds long to us, but remember for that for the last two weeks or so people have been limited to 60 euros per person per day, about $67.
10:28 AM PT: This I thought was a good tweet:
John Hooper
✔
@john_hooper
It's starting to feel like a remake of 300: Spartans v Persians but with Angela Merkel as Xerxes.
11:03 AM PT: The 'No' vote was not expected to be so decisive. The London stock market is expected to fall sharply tomorrow morning.
11:18 AM PT: Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his motorcycle.
The New Democracy party is in total dis array. There are signs that some traditional New Democracy party supporters deliberately voted no (when the party had urged Greeks to vote yes) out of protest against Samaras who has refused to resign.
11:26 AM PT: This is probably going to be my last update.
The celebration begins - but tomorrow will be interesting.